The present invention relates to a cassette-receiving door device for receiving and holding a magnetic tape cassette in a tape recorder, tape deck or video tape recorder. More particularly, the invention relates to a cassette-receiving door device of this type in which an electric motor is used to automatically open and close the door.
A cassette-receiving device for receiving and holding a magnetic tape cassette in a cassette tape recorder or the like has been well known. These devices are often termed "kangaroo-pocket" type cassette-receiving devices. Examples of such conventional cassette-receiving devices are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
The cassette-receiving device shown in FIG. 1 includes a rockable door 1 fixed to a cassette-receiving case 1a having a protrusion 1b. The cassette-receiving case 1a is urged in the direction of the arrow A by a spring 1c. The cassette-receiving device further includes a rockable member 2 having a groove 2a engageable with the protrusion 1b of the case 1a and urged by a spring 2b into abutment with a regulating member 2c, and an air damper coupled to the cassette-receiving case 1a. In the cassette-receiving device in FIG. 2, instead of the air damper 3 used in the device of FIG. 1, an oil damper 3' is employed.
The operation of the cassette-receiving device of FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 1 shows the door 1 in the closed state. To open the door 1, first a force is manually applied to the rockable member 2 to turn the latter in the direction of the arrow A. As a result, the protrusion 1b of the cassette-receiving case 1a is disengaged from the groove 2a of the rockable member 2 so that the door 1 is opened by the elastic force of the spring 1c at a speed regulated by the damper 3. To close the door, a force is applied to the door 1 to turn the latter in the direction of the arrow B. When the protrusion 1b comes into abutment with the edge member 2, the door 1 is locked closed. The operation of the cassette-receiving device shown in FIG. 2 is the same as that of the cassette-receiving device in FIG. 1 described above.
As is apparent from the above description, the conventional cassette-receiving door device shown in FIG. 1 is operated in two actions: in the first action a cassette is inserted into the cassette-receiving section, and in the second action the door is manually pushed so that it is closed and the cassette is loaded into the magnetic recording and the reproducing device.
The conventional cassette-receiving door device is disadvantageous in that the preparation time required for loading a cassette into the magnetic recording and reproducing device is relatively long. Moreover, since the door must be manually closed as described above, the operation of the device is troublesome and unsure; specifically, the door may not be positively locked.
Moreover, in the conventional cassette-receiving door device shown in FIG. 2, the two actions must be carried out in a parallel mode. Thus, this device is also disadvantageous in that the preparation time required for loading a cassette is relatively long.